Advancing Road User Charge (RUC) Models in California: Understanding Social Equity and Travel Behavior Impacts

The State of California is currently moving forward with a road usage charge (RUC) demonstration program, creating promising research opportunities to examine the potential social equity implications of a shift from a gas tax to a RUC system in California. RUC . To this aim, this study investigates the relative burden of gas taxes and mileage-based RUC across various sociodemographic and geographic dimensions by examining key trends in road use, vehicle ownership, fuel consumption, use of RUC-related technologies, and attitudes/opinions related to RUC adoption. Expert interviews were conducted to increase understanding of the potential opportunities and challenges of a RUC system, particularly regarding social equity. The interviews included transportation industry professionals as well as representatives from community-based and other stakeholder organizations to understand best practices for RUC design and implementation, identify stakeholders’ concerns and potential ways to address them, and inform the design and analysis of a survey of Californians.